Sweden: Man Escapes Rape Charge for Transgender Victim

BY Michelle Garcia

July 05 2012 5:57 PM ET

A Swedish man who was on trial for attempting to rape a woman has received a lighter sentence after it was discovered the victim he was accused of assaulting is a transgender woman.

When the 61-year-old suspect attempted to rape the transgender woman, he was unaware that she was transgender and that she lacked female genitalia. According to The Local, the offender followed the woman and then brutally beat her, ripped off her pants, and grabbed her crotch. Her ex-boyfriend could see the assault happening from his home, so he ran out to stop the attack.

Judge Dan Sjöstedt of the Örebro District Court said the "intended crime never had the possibility of being fulfilled," so the man was instead convicted of assault.

"We believe that he wanted to rape this woman in particular," the judge said, "but as she turned out to be a man, the crime never was actually committed." He then deemed the rape argument invalid.

The perpetrator was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay 15,000 kronor in damages to the woman.